Sermon for November 16th

Sermon for November 16th

Apocalyptic literature is an interesting genre of biblical literature. It is filled with rather terrifying imagery, such as war, plague and social upheaval. For many, it seems to signal the end of the world, though with a vague, ambiguous timeline.

This kind of literature is made most famous by the book of Revelation. It is an entire book of the Bible that seems to point to the end times. It offers cryptic imagery of what that will look like. These images have been parsed and interpreted a thousand ways over the course of Christian history. Many have tried to use it as a road map to predict when the end of time will take place. Although the predictions have never been accurate, it doesn’t stop people from continuing to plumb the depths of Revelation for clues as to when things will invariably end.

But for many people, whether they attempt to decipher the end times through the pages of Revelation or not, the book remains disturbing and often terrifying. Even Luther struggled with the book and wondered why it was included in the canon. He saw no immediate grace in the book, just fear and wrath.

Apocalyptic literature, whether it’s the Book of Revelation or a mini apocalypse like the one’s we find in the Gospel or in Daniel, aren’t easy to read. We wonder why they are in Scripture at all. Isn’t there enough fear and terror in the world? Do we need to be scared any further about the realities that we face? It would have been the same for the crowd of John’s day, as he wrought Revelation. They faced the ever present and tyrannical power of the Roman empire. The followers of Jesus always had a tumultuous relationship with Rome. At times they were ignored. At other times they were actively persecuted. But they always lived under the constant threat of an empire that could turn on them at any moment. To hear these words could be seen as rubbing salt into the wound. They were already afraid. We are too. We have been for two thousand years as we experience war and pestilence and wait for everything we know to come to an end. Why do we have to be reminded of this in readings like the one we have today?

And the timing makes it even more troublesome. We are just a couple of weeks away from Advent. Advent is a time of waiting, as we prepare our hearts and minds for the celebration of Christmas and the coming of the Christ child, even as we look forward to Christ coming again. It is a joyous time, filled with the excitement and anticipation of Christmas and filled with the hope of the light which came into the world, a light no darkness could overcome. Hope was born on that Holy night some two thousand years ago. So why do we have to be reminded of the darkness that the hope was meant to beat back? Why can’t we just keep our eyes fixed forever on the hope without being reminded again and again of the darkness and horrors of the world around us.

And let’s face it, the passage today could almost be lifted out of our daily news.

When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

Its eery how much that could reflect our current day and age. Are we going to have to face the end of days? Will there be no future for our children, or any generation after them? It is a terrifying idea that we can’t help but hear from this text.

It doubles done in the next part.

“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance, for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name.”

Not only could we be facing the end of the world, but we could face persecution while doing it. These texts leave us filling anxious and fear riddled. No one wants to face this. No one wants to live through the last times and have their endurance and faith tested in the process. Thus, to say we don’t enjoy passages like this would be an understatement.

As a result, it would be easy to simply dismiss these texts. It would be easy to cling to the hope filled ones and leave the more troubling ones behind. But these texts are important and should not be dismissed or ignored. They might be disturbing, but there is something else lurking beneath the text.

First off, they implore us to stand fast. That can be for any time of trial we may face. These texts call us to stay strong and not succumb to the darkness of despair or the temptation of falling in line with the powers and principalities of this world. The texts are encouragement. They are rallying calls to hold to what is most important and most true, even when those are the very things that are causing us to be persecuted. The ancient Christians knew this very well. They clung to their faith even when it was their faith that was being persecuted. They held and didn’t give up. Others around the world face the same and texts like this offer that encouragement. Stay strong. Don’t give into the powers that are trying to break you.

But even more than this first point, these texts offer hope. Yes, things will get bad. Yes, you may be persecuted and may suffer. But during this, God is with you. The Holy Spirit will hep you overcome. Christ will never abandon you. No empire or kingdom or political party will ever triumph over God and God’s love will never go silent. God will be with us, even in the worst times, even when the world seems like it is about to fall apart. To go back to the first point again, our ability to endure comes from the fact that God is there. God was with the Jews in the time of the exile and helped people like Daniel and his friends persevere, even through fiery furnaces and Lion’s Dens. God was with the people of Jesus’ day, when the Roman empire and local authorities made the lives of the people a living hell. God was with the people of the early church, as they worked to share their story and establish their faith in an often-hostile environment. And God is with us, as we face an ever-growing existential threat to our world on numerous fronts and where it is becoming more and more difficult to be a genuine person of faith, who wants to honor God, serve the world in love, and be the kind of person God’s love has created them to be. It is antithetical to how the world works. Yet, the promise of the text is that God will help us persevere. God will help us keep going.

Revelation ends with a scene of ultimate victory, where God’s kingdom has come to fruition and all the kingdoms and empires of hate have fallen. The mini apocalypse that we read today plays out the same. Christ came into the midst of a terrible time for the people of Israel and something new came to be. A new of life and a new understanding of their (and our) relationship with God. There was a new purpose and a new dream for humanity. It is the same promise we lean into now. It is the same hope we cling to, that despite everything, God will triumph. Despite everything, we will one day all sing God’s love and live it, every day, with every fibre of our being.

Though apocalyptic texts can be frightening on the surface, that were meant to encourage hope and trust. As in Revelation, God will bring forth victory and, in that hope, we can trust.

Amen